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Read about our new skin care products, which contain a  
recently patented Tasmanian olive oil development.

The History of the Olive

Olives have been recorded as being cultivated and traded around the Mediterranean from about 5000BC. The tree's early distribution has been at the hands of the early Egyptians, Syrians and Romans. In the late Renaissance, the olive was taken to the Americas in the galleons of the Spanish explorers.

In more recent times the Olive has found it's way to Australia, where it's growth requirements of long, hot summers, cool winters, adequate rainfall and fertile soils are readily available.

Throughout history the Olive has had many uses besides being a source of nutrition for man. The early Egyptians used the oil to anoint the bodies of their deceased nobility, and used the tree's branches to adorn their crypts.  The Bible has many references to the use of the olive, from cultivation of groves to the use of oil salves.

Many varieties of Olive have evolved from the tree's response to environment change or have been specially developed by mankind by cross pollination techniques to produce a  particular attribute, such as size, oil content and taste. The taste sensation can vary from  nutty, peppery or grassy flavors, the intensity of which varies with the tree cultivar, the locality or the climate, degree of ripeness  at harvest time or any combination thereof.  There are cultivars for table fruit, usually depicted by their fruit size and low pit size to flesh ratio; and for oil extraction these usually are smaller sized and have higher oil content in the fleshy portion of the fruit.    

The fruit has a very bitter taste, from a naturally occurring substance known as oleuropein, and this needs to be extracted before table fruit is palatable. There are three usual methods of extraction to remove the acidic effects, water pickling, prolonged brine pickling or quicker mild lye treatments followed by rinsing and subsequent brine pickling.

Recent health demographic surveys have focused on the attributes of the "Mediterranean diet", however these benefits were common knowledge to the early Cretans, Egyptians and Romans.  Empires have waxed and waned over the years but the tree still maintains it's premier standing amongst the world's healthful minded consumers.

Olive products today, as in the past, still retain their valuable contribution to the welfare of man.